End user controlled multi-service device priority setting

ABSTRACT

A communication network allows an end user to dynamically select a user device among user devices associated with the user&#39;s subscription as the primary user device by defining a primary capability tag or attribute. Selection of a user device sets the primary capability tag of the selected user device, which is published towards an application server. The application server notifies all other user devices in the group of devices. If a previous user device in the group of user devices was set as the primary user device, then, in response to the notification, the previous user device performs a re-registration with the network removing the previous user device as the primary user device for the services associated with the user subscription. The selected user device also performs a re-registration/registration with the network so all incoming requests for services associated with the user subscription are sent to the selected user device.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for routingservice requests to user devices by designating a user device to be theprimary user device for receiving service requests for a group of userdevices associated with a user subscription.

BACKGROUND

The IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) is the technology defined by the ThirdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) to provide IP Multimedia servicesover mobile communication networks. IP Multimedia services provide adynamic combination of voice, video, messaging, data, etc. within thesame session.

The IMS makes use of the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) to set up andcontrol calls or sessions between user terminals. The SessionDescription Protocol (SDP), carried by SIP signals, is used to describeand negotiate the media components of the session. Whilst SIP wascreated as a user-to-user protocol, the IMS allows operators and serviceproviders to control user access to services and to charge usersaccordingly.

FIG. 1 illustrates schematically how the IMS fits into the mobilenetwork architecture in the case of a General Packet Radio Service(GPRS) access network. As shown in FIG. 1, a control of communicationsoccurs at three layers (or planes). The lowest layer is the ConnectivityLayer 1, also referred to as the bearer plane and through which signalsare directed to/from user devices accessing the network. The entitieswithin the connectivity layer 1 that connect an IMS subscriber to IMSservices form a network that is referred to as the IP-ConnectivityAccess Network, IP-CAN. The GPRS network includes various GPRS SupportNodes (GSNs). A gateway GPRS support node (GGSN) 2 acts as an interfacebetween the GPRS backbone network and other networks (radio network andthe IMS network). The middle layer is the Control Layer 4, and at thetop is the Application Layer 6.

The IMS 3 includes a core network 3 a, which operates over the middle,Control Layer 4 and the Connectivity Layer 1, and a Service Network 3 b.The IMS core network 3 a includes nodes that send/receive signalsto/from the GPRS network via the GGSN 2 a at the Connectivity Layer 1and network nodes that include Call/Session Control Functions (CSCFs) 5,which operate as SIP proxies within the IMS in the middle, Control Layer4. The 3GPP architecture defines three types of CSCFs: the Proxy CSCF(P-CSCF) which is the first point of contact within the IMS for a SIPterminal; the Serving CSCF (S-CSCF) which provides services to the userthat the user is subscribed to; and the Interrogating CSCF (I-CSCF)whose role is to identify the correct S-CSCF and to forward to thatS-CSCF a request received from a SIP terminal via a P-CSCF. The top,Application Layer 6 includes the IMS service network 3 b. ApplicationServers (ASs) 7 are provided for implementing IMS service functionality.

The user device or user equipment (UE) may comprise or represent anydevice or equipment used for communications over a communicationsnetwork. Examples of a user device or UE that may be used in certainembodiments of the described network(s) are wireless devices such asmobile phones, terminals, smart phones, portable computing devices suchas lap tops, handheld devices, tablets, netbooks, computers, personaldigital assistants and other wireless devices that may connect to acommunications network, or wired or fixed communication devices such astelephones, computing devices such as desktop computers, set-top boxes,televisions, or other devices that may connect to a communicationsnetwork.

Communication networks may comprise or represent any network used forcommunications with user devices or UEs connected to the communicationsnetwork. Examples of communications networks include, but are notlimited to, wireless networks such as the Worldwide Interoperability forMicrowave Access (WiMAX), wireless local area networks (WLAN) based onthe Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' (IEEE) 802.11standards e.g. Wi-Fi networks, or Internet Protocol (IP) networks,packet-switched networks or enhanced packet switched networks, IMSnetworks, or communications networks based on wireless, cellular orsatellite technologies such as mobile networks, Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA),CDMA2000 or Long Term Evolution (LTE)/LTE Advanced mobile networks orany 2^(nd), 3^(rd) or 4^(th) Generation and beyond communicationsnetworks.

Nowadays the Rich Communication Suite 5.1 standard defines twomechanisms to exchange user device capabilities including both basiccommunication services and applications. IMS basic communicationservices (IMS CoSe) are identified by an IMS communication serviceidentifier (ICSI), and applications or services are identified by an IMSapplication reference identifier (IARI). Two mechanisms may be used as acapabilities exchange mechanism, the OPTIONS mechanism or the Presencemechanism as outlined in section 6.2 of the RCS 5.1 standard.

Typically user devices publish their capabilities towards a capabilitiesexchange application server (e.g. CX-AS) in the communication network,which acts as a store of the capabilities for each user device. Userdevices may then subscribe with the CX-AS to receive the capabilities ofother user devices in the network, which allows user devices to receivethe capabilities of other user devices in the network for use when theuser devices wish to communicate with each other using variousapplication and services. The capabilities and capability notificationsmay be based on the Extensible Mark-up Language (XML), in whichcapabilities are defined using elements and attributes that areindicated in an XML document using tags etc. Further information on thecapabilities exchange mechanisms for IMS, MMTel, RCS, and capabilityexchange may be found in RFC 3841, “Caller Preferences for the SessionInitiation Protocol (SIP)”, http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3841, or RCS5.1 Services and Client Specification, version 2.0, which are hereinincorporated by reference.

IMS (e.g. RCS, Voice over LTE) supports multi-devices per user andmulti-service subscriptions. Users can a multitude of multimedia enableduser devices (e.g. work smartphone(s), home smart phone(s), TVs, laptopsetc.) attached to their user subscription. Depending on user behaviour(e.g. a user is registered/attached with a number of their user devicessimultaneously), IMS controlled services may fork to all user devicesand the user will receive service request(s), incoming requests, orcalls, etc. on all registered user devices. Currently in an IMSmulti-service deployment (e.g. MMTel, RCS with presence etc.) typicallyall user devices associated with a subscription and registered in thenetwork will receive incoming service requests from the various servicesavailable, which can be an amalgamation/mixture of communicationservices such as, by way of example only, MMTel, video, Presence, Chatservices etc.

Mechanisms exist in MMTel via Ut to change the calling preference perdevice (e.g. “Flexible Communication Distribution in MMTel ApplicationServer (MTAS)”, 1/155 17-CNA 403 9026 Uen). However these callingpreference settings are only relevant for specific services on MTAS(e.g. Ut terminated in XDMS in MMTel AS). They are not relevant forother services hosted on other application servers or applications. Fora user with multiple devices associated with the user's subscriptionsuch as a multi-service subscription, this can lead to a cumbersome userexperience as described and illustrated with reference to FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a communication network 200including an MMTel/IMS Core 201 for providing network access to severaluser devices, i.e. a first, second and third user device 202 a, 202 band 202 c (e.g. mobile phone, laptop, TV) associated with user 203. Thecommunications network 200 also includes a remote end or originatingside 204 of the network from which other users (not shown) may originatecalls or service requests associated with user 203 and one of the userdevices 202 a-202 c. In this example, user 203 has several user devices202 a, 202 b and 202 c registered at home and has several servicesavailable (e.g. MMTel voice & video, presence etc.) The FCD service inthe MMTel AS of the MMTeL/IMS Core 201 allows the caller preference peruser device 202 a-202 c to be changed, which allows the user 203 toallocate a preferred user device that will “ring” first.

For example, the user 203 may wish to allocate the second user device202 b (e.g. their laptop) as the “primary device” on which all incomingservice requests or calls are to be received. This is because the user203 is at home and the family may be watching or using the third userdevice 202 c (e.g. TV) and it would not be optimal that the third userdevice 202 c receives all incoming service requests. By using Ut and theFCD service in the MMTel AS the caller preference per device 202 a-202 ccan be configured to ring the second user device 202 b (e.g. laptop)first and then the remaining user devices 202 a and 202 c if the seconduser device 202 b does not answer. As a specific setting request wassent to a specific service in an AS the user 203 will now receive allMMTel related services (e.g. MMTel voice & video) on the second userdevice 202 b (e.g. laptop) first. However all other services will stillbe forked to all other registered user devices 202 a and 202 c (e.g. themobile telephone and the TV). For example, all presence related requestsmay be shown on the third user device 202 c (e.g. TV). FCD allows onlysome services to send service requests to the primary user device, andis only useful for MMTel AS services. There will still be unavoidableinterruptions to the user and other users on the first and third userdevices 202 a and 202 c for the majority of other services that areavailable.

Basically, FCD is an IMS terminating service allows multiple userdevices (or targets) to be alerted (“rings”) either serially or in aparallel fashion based on user configuration rules. The FCD service canring up to 1 to 10 targets. User configuration rules can specify eithera serial or a parallel distribution. The serial distribution calls eachof the targets identified in the active rule consecutively until onetarget answers or all targets have been unsuccessfully attempted. Eachcommunication set-up attempt is limited in duration by an answer timer.Following expiry of the timer the communication set-up attempt iscancelled and the next target identity in the active rule, if any, isattempted. Parallel distribution calls all targets in the active rule atthe same time until one target answers or the time allowed for an answerexpires. Following answer or timer expiry communication set-up attemptsto unanswered targets from which a final response has not been receivedare cancelled.

It is evident that FCD can result in a large waste of communicationsresources should the user not answer immediately the first user device.In addition, in a multiple user device scenario, if a user is usinganother user device in the group of devices (e.g. a TV or computer),then serial and parallel distribution will cause unnecessaryinterruptions as described with reference to FIG. 2, this leads to acumbersome user experience.

There are limited mechanisms in current networks such as those based onIMS that allow the user to have some semblance of control over callerpreferences to multiple user devices (e.g. for FCD, the group of userdevices may be configured to ring in parallel or ring serially). FCDonly allows for a limited user control (via the standard Ut interface)for which user device should initially receive MMTel sessions/servicerequests etc. The FCD configuration options are only supported andrelevant to specific services on a specific application server (e.g. theMMTel AS) in the communication network, which needs to store end userconfiguration options. It is not a network wide setting (i.e. it willnot encompass other services). The services and corresponding servicerequests or calls that are not subject to the FCD user configurationoptions or changes thereto will all be received on all user devices,even non-primary user devices that are registered in the communicationnetwork. There is no simple and convenient solution for users to controlwhich user device should only receive incoming service requests frommultiple services, which can be an amalgamation/mixture of communicationservices such as, by way of example only, MMTel, Presence, Chat servicesetc.

Although similar or enhance mechanisms (e.g. subscriber self-managementinterfaces) could be implemented on all relevant application serversproviding the end user services (e.g. Presence server, chat serveretc.), such a solution will require expensive and complicatedmulti-server network assisted synchronization. There is a desire toreduce the wastage of communications resources such as signaling waste,reduce the complexity of communications systems and networks, andimprove user control and the user experience for users with multi-deviceand multi-service subscriptions. There is also a desire to allow usersto dynamically control the user device(s) in a group of user devicesassociated with a user subscription that answer incoming requests (e.g.session/service/call request).

SUMMARY

It is an object of the present invention to provide methods andapparatus to provide a mechanism to ensure the end user can dynamicallyset a primary user device from a group of devices associated with theuser for all the services or all relevant services the user hassubscribed to. This will provide the advantage that the diverse range ofservice requests are sent to a primary user device without the need toupdate all the application servers in the communication networkproviding the services. Further advantages include minimising waste ofcommunications resources, reducing complexity of communications systems,minimising unnecessary interruptions from incoming service requests onthe remaining user devices associated with the user, improvedproductivity on the group of user devices and a significant improvementin a user's experience of the communication network.

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a methodof routing or redirecting service requests to user devices in acommunications network including an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), anapplication server (AS) with the functionality of a capability exchangeAS, and a group of user devices are associated with an IMS usersubscription. The method includes setting a user device to be a primaryuser device of the group of user devices for receiving all incomingservice requests from services associated with the group of userdevices. Sending a primary capability indication associated with theuser device to the AS for use in notifying the primary capabilityindication associated with the user device to other user devices in thegroup of user devices. The primary capability indication includes datarepresentative of the user device being the primary user device for thegroup of devices.

As an option, the method further includes registering with the IMS thatthe user device that is set as the primary user device and is theprimary user device for the services associated with the group of userdevices. As another option, the method may include setting the userdevice to be a primary user device by selecting which user device fromthe group of user devices is to be the primary user device.

Optionally, the method includes receiving a capabilities notificationfrom the AS, the capabilities notification including a primarycapability indication associated with another user device of the groupof user devices different to the user device. If the user device iscurrently set as the primary user device, then in response to thecapabilities notification, re-registering with the IMS to remove theuser device as the primary user device for the services associated withthe group of user devices.

As another option, the method includes receiving a capabilitiesnotification from the capabilities exchange AS, the capabilitiesnotification including a primary capability indication associated withthe user device. If the user device is not currently set as the primaryuser device, then in response to the capabilities notification,registering with the IMS that the user device is the primary user devicefor the services associated with the group of user devices.

Optionally, the method may further include receiving a capabilitiesexchange notification from the AS. The capabilities exchangenotification including data representative of a device identifier andone or more service capabilities associated with one or more devices inthe group of devices. Storing the device identifiers and the one or moreservice capabilities, and identifying the relevant services associatedwith the group of user devices based on one or more servicecapabilities. Additionally, as an option, identifying the servicesassociated with the group of user devices is based on IMS communicationservice identifiers, or IMS application reference identifiers receivedfrom the group of user devices. As another option, the user device isone of the devices in the group of user devices. Optionally, the methodis performed by the user device or another user device in the group ofuser devices.

As an option, the method may further include receiving a service requestassociated with one of the group of user devices, determining one ormore user device(s) from the group of user devices capable of handlingthe received service request, selecting a user device from thedetermined user device(s) for handling the call, and redirecting thereceived service request to the selected user device.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a methodof operating an AS in a communications network. The AS including thefunctionality of a capability exchange AS. The communications networkincludes an IMS and a group of user devices, the group of user devicesbeing associated with an IMS user subscription or a multi-service usersubscription. The method includes receiving a primary capabilityindication associated with a user device. The primary capabilityindication includes data representative of the user device being set asthe primary user device for the group of devices for receiving allincoming service requests from services or relevant services associatedwith the group of user devices. Storing the primary capabilityindication associated with the user device, and notifying the primarycapability indication associated with the user device to user devices inthe group of user devices.

As an option, notifying further includes notifying the primarycapability indication associated with the user device only to other userdevices of the group of user devices when the primary capabilityindication associated with the user device is received from the userdevice. As another option, notifying may further include notifying theprimary capability indication associated with the user device to theuser device when the primary capability indication associated with theuser device is received from another user device in the group of userdevices.

Optionally, the method may include receiving a capabilities indicationfrom one or more user devices in the group of user devices. Eachcapabilities indication notification including data representative ofthat device identifier and one or more service capabilities associatedwith that user device. Sending a capabilities exchange notification toeach user device in the group of user devices, where the capabilitiesexchange notification includes data representative of the deviceidentifiers of other user devices in the group of user devices, and/orone or more service capabilities associated with the other user devicesin the group of devices. Additionally, the one or more servicecapabilities identify the services associated with the group of userdevices based on ICSIs and/or IARIs.

Optionally, the data representative of the user device being the primaryuser device for the group of devices comprises a XML capability primarytag indicating whether the user device is the primary user device.Additionally, the XML capability primary tag may further include aprivacy indication that indicates the XML capability primary tag canonly be shared with user devices in the group of devices and/or trustedapplications.

According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided anapparatus for use in routing or redirecting service requests to userdevices in a communications network. The communications networkincluding an IMS and an AS, where a group of user devices are associatedwith an IMS user subscription and the AS includes the functionality of acapabilities exchange AS. The apparatus includes a processor, receiver,transmitter, and a memory, the processor being coupled to the receiver,the transmitter, and the memory. The processor is configured to set auser device to be a primary user device of the group of user devices forreceiving all incoming service requests from services associated withthe group of user devices. The transmitter is configured to send aprimary capability indication associated with the user device to acapability exchange AS for use in notifying the primary capabilityindication associated with the user device to other user devices in thegroup of user devices. The primary capability indication includes datarepresentative of the user device being the primary user device for thegroup of devices.

As an option, the processor and transmitter are further configured toregister with the IMS that the user device is the primary user devicefor the services associated with the group of user devices. Optionally,the processor is further configured to only select the user device fromthe group of user devices to be the primary user device.

Optionally, the processor and receiver are configured to receive acapabilities notification from the AS. When the capabilitiesnotification includes a primary capability indication associated withanother user device of the group of user devices different to the userdevice and if the user device is currently set as the primary userdevice, then in response to the capabilities notification, the processorand transmitter are further configured to re-register with the IMS toremove the user device as the primary user device for the servicesassociated with the group of user devices. As another option, when thecapabilities notification includes a primary capability indicationassociated with the user device and if the user device is not currentlyset as the primary user device, then in response to the capabilitiesnotification, the processor and transmitter are further configured toregister or re-register with the IMS that the user device is the primaryuser device for the services associated with the group of user devices.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided an ASfor use in a communications network, where the AS includes thefunctionality of a capabilities exchange AS. The communications networkfurther includes IMS and a group of user devices, where the group ofuser devices are associated with an IMS user subscription or amulti-service subscription. The AS includes a processor, receiver,transmitter, and a memory, the processor being coupled to the receiver,the transmitter, and the memory. The processor and receiver areconfigured to receive a primary capability indication associated with auser device, where the primary capability indication comprising datarepresentative of the user device being set as the primary user devicefor the group of devices for receiving all incoming service requestsfrom services associated with the group of user devices. The memory isconfigured to store the primary capability indication associated withthe user device. The processor and transmitter are configured to notifythe primary capability indication associated with the user device touser devices in the group of user devices.

As an option, the processor and transmitter are further configured tonotify the primary capability indication associated with the user deviceonly to other user devices of the group of user devices when the primarycapability indication associated with the user device is received fromthe user device. Additionally, as another option, the processor andtransmitter are further configured to notify the primary capabilityindication associated with the user device to the user device when theprimary capability indication associated with the user device isreceived from another user device in the group of user devices.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided acomputer program, including computer readable code means which, when runfrom a computer readable medium in the form of a memory in a processorin an apparatus or AS, causes the apparatus or AS to perform the methodsor processes as described. As an option, there is provided a computerprogram product including a computer readable medium and a computerprogram as described, where the computer program is stored on thecomputer readable medium.

It is evident that the invention provides the advantage of providingimproved user control of which user device out of a group of userdevices associated with a user's subscription, i.e. an IMS subscriptionthat may be a multi-service/device subscription. This is achieved usingthe capabilities exchange mechanism and allowing user devices to set aprimary capability and publish the primary capability allowing otheruser devices in the group of user devices to be notified of changes in auser devices capabilities, and also allowing other user devices in thegroup of user devices to relinquish their primary status, i.e. removethemselves as the primary user device.

Further advantages of the present invention include improved end userexperience in a multi-service/device IMS environment, dynamic settinginitiated via selection (e.g. a “button” push on a user device) of auser device as a primary device for all the diverse services under auser's subscription. Another advantage provides other user devices inthe group of user devices to delegate the primary device setting inwhich a user may use one user device to delegate setting another userdevice to be the primary user device in the group of user devices. Inaddition, existing technology and mechanisms are reused resulting inreduced time to market, costs, and complexity of implementing theinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some embodiments of the invention will now be described by way ofexample only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a typical communicationsnetwork;

FIG. 2 is another schematic diagram illustrating the use of FCD in atypical communications network;

FIG. 3a is a schematic diagram illustrating an example process forrouting or redirecting service requests to user devices according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 3b is another schematic diagram illustrating the example processfor routing or redirecting service requests to user devices according tothe present invention;

FIG. 3c is a flow diagram illustrating another example process for useby an apparatus of user device in routing or redirecting servicerequests to user devices according to the present invention;

FIG. 3d is a flow diagram illustrating the another example process foruse by an application server in routing or redirecting service requeststo user devices according to the present invention;

FIG. 3e is a signalling diagram illustrating a further example processfor routing or redirecting service requests to user devices according tothe present invention;

FIG. 4a is a schematic diagram illustrating an example process forrouting or redirecting service requests to user devices according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 4b is a signalling diagram illustrating the example process forrouting or redirecting service requests to user devices according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 4c is a signalling diagram illustrating another example process forrouting or redirecting service requests to user devices from adelegating user device according to the present invention;

FIG. 5a is a schematic diagram illustrating a further example processfor routing or redirecting service requests to user devices according tothe present invention;

FIG. 5b is a schematic diagram illustrating the further example processfor routing or redirecting service requests to user devices according tothe present invention;

FIG. 5b is a signalling diagram illustrating the further example processfor routing or redirecting service requests to user devices according tothe present invention;

FIG. 5c is a signalling diagram illustrating another example process forrouting or redirecting service requests to user devices from adelegating user device according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of an example server according to theinvention; and

FIG. 7 is a schematic illustration of an example apparatus according tothe invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In order to at least partially overcome the problems described above, itis proposed herein to improve the operation and performance of acommunications network (e.g. an IP communications network) by ensuringthe end user can dynamically select a user device of a group of userdevices associated with the user's subscription to be a primary userdevice for receiving all the service requests the user has subscribedto.

The invention consists of using a mechanism provided by the networkbased on the existing capability exchange or service discoverymechanisms (e.g. see chapter 2.6.1 in “GSM RCC.07-Rich CommunicationSuite 5.1”) by defining a primary capability tag or attribute thatallows an end user to dynamically select a user device as primary fortheir multi-service subscription. When the user selects a user device asthe primary user device, a primary capability of the selected device isset and the “primary” capability attributes are published towards thenetwork which in turn notifies all other user devices in the group ofdevices, clients and applications that have subscribed to information onthis primary capability. If previous user device in the group of userdevices was previously set as the primary user device, then, on receiptof the notification that the selected user device has set a primarycapability, the previous user device performs a re-registration with thenetwork removing the previous user device as the primary user device forthe services associated with the user subscription. The selected userdevice performs a re-registration/registration with the network suchthat all incoming requests are sent to and received by the selected userdevice. Additionally, on receiving an incoming request, the primary userdevice may display user devices of the group of devices capable ofhanding the incoming request for selection by the user, and mayroute/redirect the incoming request to a selected user device. Furtherexamples of the invention will now be described by way of example onlyand with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 3a and 3b are schematic diagrams for illustrating an exampleprocess for routing service requests or incoming calls to user devicesbased on a capability exchange mechanism in a communications network300. The communications network 300 includes an IMS comprising anMMTel/IMS Core 301 and Application Server(s) 305 (e.g. a capabilityexchange AS). A user 303 may have a group of devices 302 a-302 c thatare associated with an IMS subscription (i.e. a multi-servicesubscription).

Initially, each user device in the group of user devices 302 a-302 cregisters with the communication network 300 before using communicationservices 300 (e.g. IP Core Access Network (IP CAN) connection and SIPregister request(s) may be transmitted when performing IMS Registrationfor each user device). During registration each user device in the groupof devices 302 a-302 c registers with the relevant services (e.g. ICSIs)associated with that user device and the multi-service subscription ofthe user 303. It is also assumed that each user device 302 a-302 bsubscribes to changes on user level in relation to the capabilities ofthe other user devices in the group of user devices 302 a-302 c. In sodoing, each user device 302 a-302 c publishes its capability using thecapability exchange mechanism in terms of supported services to the AS305, which may have the functionality of a capability exchange server.Each user device 302 a-302 c will then receive the correspondingincoming service requests or calls etc. associated with the serviceseach user device 302 a-302 c has registered for.

It is also assumed that the second user device 302 b was previouslyselected to be the primary user device such that each of the first andthird user devices 302 a and 302 b had performed a re-registration withcommunications network 300 to remove the relevant services (e.g. ICSIs)being associated with the first and third user devices 302 a and 302 c.The second user device 302 b had also previously performed aregistration or re-registration with the communication network 300 toindicate to all the communication services (i.e. relevant services)associated with the user subscription and the group of devices 302 a-302c that the second user device 302 b should receive all incoming servicerequests, calls, etc. from these services.

As this point, the first user device 302 a is configured to allow theuser 303 to select the first user device 302 a (e.g. a mobile phone) asthe primary user device. The selection may be via a menu on the mobilephone or an application to set a configuration parameter on the phone,in which the first user device 302 a is set as the primary device of thegroup of user devices for receiving all incoming service requests (e.g.incoming calls or incoming requests) from services associated with thegroup of user devices and the user's subscription. In selecting thefirst user device 302 a to be the primary user device, a part of theuser device's capabilities is set with a “Primary” capability tag orattribute. It is to be appreciated that the term “Primary” is used forsimplicity, and that any suitable named capability tag or attribute maybe used as long as such named capability tag or attribute it isinterpreted or understood by the relevant user devices, clients,services, applications, application servers, and other relevant networkor network elements as being a capability indicating that user device isset as the primary user device for receiving all incoming servicerequests, calls, etc. associated with services the user has subscribedto. The primary capability attribute or tag may include datarepresentative of the primary capability.

Once set, data representative of the primary capability tag associatedwith the first user device 302 a is sent or published towards thecommunication network 300. For example, in step 306, the first userdevice 302 a sends a capability notification indicating the primarycapability associated with the first user device 302 a to an AS 305 inthe communication network 300 (e.g. a capability exchange AS (CX-AS))that includes the capability exchange functionality for storing andinterpreting the capabilities sent to the AS 305 from the various userdevices (e.g. the primary capability associated with the first userdevice 302 a).

In step 307, the AS 305 determines that the second and third userdevices 302 b and 302 c have subscribed to changes in the capability ofthe first user device 302 a and should be sent the capabilitynotification based on the received primary capability associated withthe first user device 302 a. The primary capability indication includesdata representative of the user device 302 a being the primary userdevice for the group of devices 302 a-302 c. The AS 305 interprets thatthe data representative of the primary capability should be sent only tothose user devices, services or applications that are authorised toreceive the primary capability indication associated with the first userdevice 302 a.

In order to assist the AS 305 to determine that the primary capabilityassociated with the first user device 302 a should be sent to authoriseduser devices, services and applications, the data representative of theprimary capability tag or attribute for the first user device mayinclude further data representative of a “privacy” marking, such thatthe AS 305 can immediately identify that the primary capability shouldbe treated differently and so should only be notified to authorised userdevices, services or applications etc. For example, the primarycapability tag associated with the first user device 302 a will betreated by the AS 305 as private data and will only include thiscapability in the list of capabilities when sending the list to otherdevices or trusted applications under the control of the user (e.g.other user devices in the group of devices 302 a-303 c associated withthe user and/or the user's multi-service subscription). In anotherexample, the AS 305 determines that the primary capability is to bepublished to those user devices that have subscribed to receive changesin the capabilities of the first user device 302 a and that areauthorised to receive a capability change notification for the firstuser device 302 a based on the primary capability. That is, the receivedprimary capability is handled as private data and will be publishedtowards user devices that are associated with the same user IMSsubscription or multi-service subscription. From this, the AS 305determines that user devices 302 b and 302 c from the group of devices302 a-203 c associated with the IMS subscription of user 303 shouldreceive the received primary capability associated with the first userdevice 302 a.

In steps 308 a and 308 b, the AS 305 sends a capability notification tosecond and third user devices 302 b and 302 c because these devices havesubscribed to be notified of capability changes of first user device 302a). The capability notification includes data representative of theprimary capability associated with the first user device 302 a.

When the second user device 302 b receives the capability notificationfrom the AS 305 in step 308 a, because the second user device 302 b iscurrently designated or set as a primary user device for the group ofdevices 302 a-302 c, the second user device 302 b is configured tointerpret the primary capability associated with the first user device302 a to mean that the first user device 302 a has been set as theprimary user device. The second user device 302 b is further configuredto perform a re-registration with the communication network 300 removingall the relevant communication services (e.g. ICSIs and/or IARIs) forwhich the second user device 302 b was designated the primary userdevice. This then removes the second user device 302 b as the primaryuser device for all the services (the relevant services) associated withthe group of user devices 302 a-302 c. The relevant services will nownot send any incoming service requests, calls etc. to the second userdevice 302 b.

In addition, the first user device 302 a, on being selected as theprimary user device, and after publication of the primary capability toAS 305 performs a registration and/or a re-registration with thecommunication network 300 (e.g. the IMS) to add the first user device302 a as the primary user device for all the relevant communicationservices (e.g. ICSIs and/or IARIs) associated with the user devices 302a-302 c. This means the first user device 302 a is set as the primaryuser device and will now receive all incoming service requests, callsetc. from the relevant services associated with the group of userdevices 302 a-302 c.

When the third user device 302 c receives the capability notificationfrom the AS 305 in step 308 c, because the third user device 302 c isnot designated or set as a primary user device, the third user device302 c is configured not to act on the primary capability notificationassociated with the first user device 302 a, but stores the informationfor future use.

As previously described, the capability exchange mechanisms may use XMLwith the service capabilities and capability notifications being basedon XML. The capabilities may be defined using elements and attributesthat are indicated in XML using tags etc. The capability notificationsmay include data representative of the user device 302 a being theprimary user device for the group of devices 302 a-302 c, such data maybe defined of in the form of an XML capability primary tag indicatingwhether the user device 302 a is the primary user device. The XMLcapability primary tag may be configured to include a privacy indicationthat indicates the XML capability primary tag should only be shared withtrusted user devices, e.g. user devices in the group of devices 302a-302 c associated with a user subscription and/or trusted applications,services and other network nodes.

FIG. 3c is a flow diagram illustrating an example process for routingservice requests in the communications network 300. The communicationnetwork 300 includes an IMS 301 and an AS 305 with the functionality ofa capability exchange mechanism. The group of user devices 302 a-302 care associated with an IMS user subscription or a multi-servicesubscription of the user 303. The process performed by one or more ofthe user devices in the group of user devices 302 a-302 c includes thefollowing steps:

-   A1. Setting one of the user devices 302 a-302 c to be a primary user    device of the group of user devices 302 a-302 c for receiving all    incoming service requests from services associated with the group of    user devices 302 a-302 c.-   A2. Sending data representative of a primary capability indication    associated with the selected user device to the AS 305 for use in    notifying the primary capability indication associated with the set    user device to other user devices in the group of user devices 302    a-302 c. The primary capability indication includes data    representative of the set user device being the primary user device    for the group of devices 302 a-302 c.

If the user device 302 a that is used to set one of the user devices 302a-302 c as the primary user device is set as the primary user device,then the method may further include registering with the IMS that theuser device is the primary user device for the services associated withthe group of user devices.

If another of the user devices is to be set as the primary device, themethod may further include receiving a capabilities notification fromthe AS 305, the capabilities notification including a primary capabilityindication associated with said another user device 302 b of the groupof user devices 305 different to the user device 302 a. If the userdevice 302 a is currently set as the primary user device, then inresponse to the capabilities notification, re-registering with the IMSto remove the user device 302 a as the primary user device for theservices associated with the group of user devices.

If another of the user devices sets the user device 302 a to be theprimary user device, the method may further include receiving acapabilities notification from the AS 305, the capabilities notificationincluding a primary capability indication associated with the userdevice 302 a. If the user device 302 a is not currently set as theprimary user device, then in response to the capabilities notification,registering or re-registering with the IMS that the user device 302 a isthe primary user device for the services associated with the group ofuser devices 302 a-302 c.

Setting one of the user devices to be a primary user device furtherincludes selecting the user device 302 a from the group of user devices302 a-302 c to be the primary user device. Prior to selecting one of theuser devices from the group of user devices 302 a-302 c, the user devicefrom which the selection is made may include receiving a capabilitiesexchange notification from the AS 305, the capabilities exchangenotification including data representative of a device identifier andone or more service capabilities associated with one or more devices inthe group of devices. Storing the device identifiers and the one or moreservice capabilities. Identifying the services associated with the groupof user devices based on one or more service capabilities. The deviceidentifiers may be used for selecting one or the devices from the groupof user devices 302 a-302 c as the primary user device.

The method may further include receiving a service request associatedwith one of the group of user devices 302 a-302 c, determining one ormore user device(s) from the group of user devices capable of handlingthe received service request, selecting a user device from thedetermined user device(s) for handling the service request or call, andredirecting the received service request to the selected user device.

FIG. 3d is a flow diagram illustrating an example process for routingservice requests in the communications network 300. The communicationnetwork 300 includes an IMS 301 and an AS 305 with the functionality ofa capability exchange mechanism. The group of user devices 302 a-302 care associated with an IMS user subscription or a multi-servicesubscription of the user 303. The process performed by the AS 305includes the following steps:

-   B1. Receiving a primary capability indication associated with a user    device of the group of user devices 302 a-302 b. The primary    capability indication includes data representative of one of the    user device(s) being set as the primary user device for the group of    devices 302 a-302 b, where the primary user device receives all    incoming service requests or calls etc. from services associated    with the group of user devices 302 a-302 c.-   B2. Storing the received primary capability indication associated    with the user device.-   B3. Notifying the primary capability indication associated with the    user device to user devices in the group of user devices 302 a-302    c.

Step B3 may further include notifying the primary capability indicationassociated with a user device 302 a only to other user devices 302 b-302c of the group of user devices 302 a-302 c when the primary capabilityindication associated with the user device 302 a is received from theuser device 302 a.

Step B3 may further include notifying the primary capability indicationassociated with the user device 302 a to the user device 302 a when theprimary capability indication associated with the user device 302 a isreceived from another user device 302 b or 302 c in the group of userdevices 302 a-302 c.

Step B2 may further include storing the received primary capabilityindication associated with the user device in a storage medium, memoryor database for use in retrieving and notifying user devices of thecapabilities and/or capability changes associated with the user device.

The method may further include receiving one or more capabilitiesindication notification(s) from one or more user devices in the group ofuser devices 302 a-302 c, each capabilities indication notificationincluding data representative of that device's identifier and one ormore service capabilities associated with that user device. Sending acapabilities exchange notification to each user device in the group ofuser devices 302 a-302 c, the capabilities exchange notificationincluding data representative of the device identifiers of other userdevices in the group of user devices 302 a-302 c and one or more servicecapabilities associated with the other user devices in the group ofdevices. The one or more service capabilities may identify the servicesassociated with the group of user devices 302 a-302 c based on ICSI(s).

FIG. 3e illustrates a signalling flow diagram illustrating anotherexample of a process according to the invention for routing incomingservice requests to user devices 302 a-302 c in communications network300 as described with reference to FIGS. 3a -3 d. In this example,communications network 300 includes the IMS comprising an IMS Core/MMTelAS 301 and an AS 305 including the functionality of a capabilityexchange server (e.g. a CX-AS). The first, second and third user devices302 a, 302 b and 302 c (e.g. a mobile telephone, a laptop and a TV) mayreceive originating/incoming service/session requests, originating callsetc., from other user devices in an originating side 304 (or remote end)of the communications network 300. It is assumed that the user devices302 a-302 c constitute a group of user devices 302 a-302 c associatedwith a multi-service subscription or IMS subscription of user 303.

Initially, in step 310 each device 302 a-302 c performs an IP CANconnection and IMS registration to allow the user devices 302 a-302 c toaccess/communicate with the relevant services associated with IMSsubscription of the user 303 and/or other user devices overcommunication network 300. The IMS Core and MMTel AS 301 registers eachuser device 302 a-302 c. In step 311 each user device 302 a-302 csubscribes with the AS 305 to receive changes at the user level of thecapabilities of each device in the group of user devices 302 a-302 c. Instep 312, each user device 302 a-302 c publishes its capability in termsof supported services to the AS 305. The AS 305 may store the publishedcapability associated with each user device 302 a-302 c in a storagemedium, memory or database for use in retrieving and notifying userdevices of the capabilities and/or capability changes associated witheach user device 302 a-302 c that subscribes with AS 305 to receivechanges of the capabilities of user devices in the group of user devices302 a-302 c. The AS 305 may then notify each user device 302 a-302 c ofthe capabilities of other user devices.

At this point, each user device 302 a-302 c will receive servicerequests or calls from services (e.g. ICSIs) that the corresponding userdevice 302 a-302 c will have registered for. Once the user 303 hasselected one of the user devices 302 a-302 c to be a primary userdevice, each of the user devices 302 a-302 c will be notified by the AS305 and all of the relevant services associated with the user devices302 a-302 c are re-registered to be associated with the selected userdevice 302 b. That is, each user device 302 a-302 c will perform are-registration with the communication network 300 to remove theservices or relevant services associated with that user device. Theselected user device 302 b performs a registration or re-registrationwith the communication network 300 to add all the relevant servicesassociated with the user devices 302 a-302 c of the group of userdevices 302 a-302 c. Therefore, incoming service requests or calls etc.,are sent to the selected user device. In this example, it is assumedthat the second user device 302 b has been previously selected as theprimary user device, and that the second user device 302 b has performedthe appropriate registration or re-registration with the communicationnetwork 300 via the IMS such that the relevant services (e.g. ICSIs) forall the user devices in the group of device 302 a-302 c are sendingincoming service requests or calls, etc., to the second user device 302b.

In step 313, the user 303 may then use the first user device 302 a andselect and set the first user device 302 a to be the “primary” userdevice. This means the primary capability is added to the list ofcapabilities of the first user device 302 a. In step 314, the first userdevice 302 a publishes capability change or the primary capability tothe AS 305. That is, the first user device 302 a transmits to the AS 305a capability notification indicating the first user device 302 a hasbeen set as the primary user device. The capability notification willinclude data representative of the primary capability. On receiving thecapability notification from the first user device 302 a, the AS 305interprets or recognises that the primary capability in the capabilitynotification is only to be used as private data and should only bepublished to trusted applications, services, and/or other user devicessuch as the other user devices in the group of user devices 302 a-302 cassociated with the IMS subscription of user 303.

In steps 315 and 316 the AS 305 transmits a capability exchangenotification to the second and third user devices 302 b and 302 cindicating the capability change of the first user device 302 a, i.e.the first user device 302 a is now set to have a primary capability. Instep 315, since the third user device 302 c is not set as the currentprimary user device—i.e. the third user device 302 c does not have theprimary capability attribute or configuration parameter in its list ofcapabilities—the third user device 302 c does not act on the receivedcapability exchange notification. In step 316, since second user device302 b is currently set as the primary user device—i.e. the second userdevice 302 b has the primary capability attribute or configurationparameter within its list of capabilities, the second user device 302 bacts on the received capability exchange notification to remove itselfas the primary device, because the user 303 has now selected the firstdevice 302 a as the primary user device. To do this, in step 317 thesecond user device 302 b, sends a re-registration request (e.g. a SIPregister message) to the communication network 300 (e.g. towards the IMScore 301) including data for removing the relevant services (e.g. ICSIs)that it had previously registered for. This means that all futureincoming service requests or calls, etc., will not be sent to the seconduser device 302 b. At step 318, the first user device 302 a performs aregistration or re-registration with the communication network 300 toregister all the relevant services (e.g. ICSIs) such that all futureincoming service requests or calls, etc. are sent to the first userdevice 302 a. In step 319, incoming service requests or calls from theoriginating side or remote side 304 are now sent via MMTel AS and IMSCore 301 to the primary user device, which is the first user device 302a.

FIG. 4a is a schematic diagram illustrating another example processaccording to the invention for routing service requests, incomingrequests or calls to user devices 402 a-402 c based on a capabilityexchange mechanism in a communications network 400. The communicationsnetwork 400 includes an IMS comprising an MMTel/IMS Core 401 and acapability exchange AS 405. A user 403 has a group of devices 402 a-402c that are associated with an IMS subscription (i.e. a multi-servicesubscription).

As an example, the user 403 may have several user devices 402 a-402 cregistered at home (e.g. a mobile phone, laptop, TV) and associated witha multi-service subscription or an IMS subscription. This means eachuser device 402 a-402 c may be associated with one or more severalservices (e.g. MMTel voice & video, presence etc.). The processaccording to the present invention is based on using existing capabilityexchange or service discovery mechanisms (e.g. see chapter 2.6.1 in “GSMRCC.07-Rich Communication Suite 5.1”) such that a user 403 maydynamically select a user device of a group of user devices 402 a-402 cas primary for their multi-service subscription. In one example, theselected user device sets a “primary” capability attribute(s) andpublishes its “primary” capability attributes towards the communicationnetwork 400 via the IMS Core/MMTel 401 and AS 405. The AS 405 may storethe published primary capability associated with the selected userdevice in a storage medium, memory or database for use in retrieving andnotifying user devices of the capabilities and/or capability changesassociated with the selected user device. The AS 405 notifies all userdevices 402 a-402 c, clients and applications that have subscribed toreceive information on the primary capability.

For example, with reference to FIG. 4a , in step 406, using existingcapability exchange discovery mechanisms the user 402 sets the firstuser device 402 a to have a service capability called “primary” based ona configuration parameter, which is called the primary capability. Theprimary capability is a service capability that can be set on a userdevice indicating that user device is the primary user device forreceiving all service requests for relevant services associated with agroup of user devices 402 a-402 c, which may be related to amulti-service or IMS subscription of a user 403. The primary capabilitycan be classified as “private”, indicating to capability exchangeapplication servers 405 that only authorised user devices, trustedapplications or services may subscribe to receive notifications relatingto the primary capability. In step 406, the first user device 402 apublishes the capability change towards the communication network 400,which is received by the AS 405.

The AS 405 is configured to include capability exchange and servicediscovery mechanisms that are able to interpret the “primary”capability. It is also assumed, prior to step 406, that the AS 405 hasreceived subscriptions by interested user devices or applications toreceive events related to the “primary” service capability. Given theprimary capability can be classified as “private”, the interested userdevices will typically be authorised user devices such as user devicesin a group of user devices 402 a-402 c associated with a multi-serviceor IMS subscription of a user 403. The AS 405 may then, using thecapability exchange mechanisms, notify user devices in group of userdevices 402 a-402 c that have subscribed and authorised to receivechanges in the primary capability.

In steps 408 a and 408 b, as user devices 402 a-402 c have subscribedwith AS 405 to receive capability notifications or information on theprimary capability, then when the first user device 402 a is set to bethe primary user device in steps 406 and 407, the AS 405 sendscapability exchange notifications to user devices 402 b and 402 cnotifying these devices of the change in “primary” status of the firstuser device 402 a. If any one of these other user devices 402 b and 402c were previously set to have the primary capability, then that userdevice 402 b or 402 c issues a re-register (e.g. a SIP registrationmessage) removing the relevant services and/or ICSIs. The first userdevice 402 a issues a re-register to add the relevant services and/orICSIs such that all incoming service requests for the relevant servicesand/or ICSIs associated with the group of user devices 402 a-402 c aresent only to the first user device 402 a. The user 403 may, at a laterstage, set another user device in the group of user devices 402 a-402 cto be the primary user device, and so the above process is repeated inrespect of that newly selected user device.

FIG. 4b is a signalling diagram illustrating another example processaccording to the invention for routing service requests, incomingrequests or calls to user devices based on capability exchangemechanisms. The communication network 400 as described with respect toFIG. 4c further includes and originating or remote side 404 from whichincoming service requests or calls may be sent to user devices 402 a-402c.

Initially, in step 410 each user device 402 a-402 c of the group of userdevices 402 a-402 c performs an IP CAN connection and IMS registrationto allow the user devices 402 a-402 c to access/communicate with therelevant services associated with IMS subscription of the user 403and/or other user devices over communication network 400. The IMS Coreand MMTel AS 401 registers each user device 402 a-402 c. In step 411each user device 402 a-402 c subscribes with the AS 405 to receivechanges at the user level of the capabilities of each device in thegroup of user devices 402 a-402 c. In step 412, each user device 402a-402 c publishes its capability in terms of supported services to theAS 405. The AS 405 may store the published capabilities associated witheach user device 402 a-402 c in a storage medium, memory or database foruse in retrieving and notifying user devices of the capabilities and/orcapability changes associated with each user device 402 a-402 c thatsubscribes with AS 405 to receive changes of the capabilities of userdevices in the group of user devices 402 a-402 c. The AS 405 may thennotify each user device 402 a-402 c of the capabilities of other userdevices.

In this example, in step 413, the AS 405 notifies the user devices 402a-402 c of capability changes in respect of the other user devices 402a-402 c. The capability notification(s) sent from the AS 405 to eachuser device 402 a-402 c may include data representative of the identityof each user device 402 a-402 c that has “changed” such that each of theuser devices 402 a-402 c is now aware of the identities of the otheruser devices in the group of user devices 402 a-402 c. For example, thefirst user device 402 a is made aware or stores the identities of thesecond user device 402 b and third user device 402 c, the other userdevices 402 b and 402 c are similarly aware. Similarly, the user devices402 a-402 c also publish their supported services and/or service ICSIs,which are also notified to the AS 405 using the capability exchangemechanism. The AS 405 in turn notifies each user device 402 a-402 caccordingly, which stores the relevant services and/or service ICSIsassociated with each device 402 a-402 c. This means that each userdevice 402 a-402 c may be made aware of the services each other userdevice 402 a-402 c has registered for.

At this point, each user device 402 a-402 c will receive servicerequests or calls from services (e.g. ICSIs) that the corresponding userdevice 402 a-402 c has registered for. Using the primary capabilitymechanism as described herein, the user 403 may then select and set oneof the user devices 402 a-402 c to be the primary user device using theprimary capability, which is published towards the AS 405. The AS 405stores or updates its database in relation to the setting and publishingof the primary capability associated with the selected user device. TheAS 405 then notifies all of the user devices 402 a-402 c, which userdevice has been set as the primary user device. Given all the userdevices 402 a-402 c are all registered with their respective services,each user device 402 a-402 c that has not been set as the primary userdevice then re-registers with the communication network 400 removing therelevant services associated with that user device. The user device thatis set as the primary user device, re-registers with the communicationnetwork 400 to add the relevant services associated with the group ofuser devices 402 a-402 c. Note, the user device that is set as theprimary user device does not need to re-register the services that theuser device has registered with. In this case, it is assumed that theuser 403 set the second user device 402 b as the primary user devicesuch that incoming service requests/calls etc., for all relevantservices associated with the group of devices 402 a-402 c aresent/routed to the second user device 402 b.

In step 414, the user 403 decides to select the first user device 402 ato be the primary user device. For example, a configuration parameter infirst user device 402 a may be set to indicate the first user device 402a has a primary service capability. This may be represented by a primarytag or attribute that is set as part of the capabilities of the firstuser device 402 a. In this example, the primary capability includes datarepresentative of a “privacy” marking and is set as part of the servicecapabilities of the user device 402 a that is sent/published towards thecommunication network 400.

As previously described, the capability exchange mechanisms may use XMLwith the service capabilities and capability notifications being basedon XML. The capabilities may be defined using elements and attributesthat are indicated in XML using tags etc. The capability notificationsmay include data representative of the user device 402 a being theprimary user device for the group of devices 402 a-402 c, such data maybe defined of in the form of an XML capability primary tag indicatingwhether the user device 402 a is the primary user device. The XMLcapability primary tag may be configured to include a privacy indicationthat indicates the XML capability primary tag should only be shared withtrusted user devices, e.g. user devices in the group of devices 402a-402 c associated with a user subscription and/or trusted applications,services and other network nodes.

The primary capability may include a “privacy” marking that can be usedto categorise the primary capability as “private” or “public”. Forexample, in a more generic framework/mechanism service capabilities maybe categorized as “private” and “public”. This can be achieved byincluding data representing a “privacy” marking to any servicecapability of a user device, the “privacy” marking indicating theservice capability is for “private” use by authorised or trusted userdevices, clients, applications and/or services subscribing to receiveservice capabilities of the user device. The service capability may becategorized as “public” by the absence of a “privacy” marking, servicecapabilities that are categorized as “public” may be sent to any userdevice, client, application, or service that has subscribed to receiveservice capabilities of the user device.

For example, an existing service capability in a publish operation forthe Image Share IARI may be based on the following piece of XML (seechapter 2.6.1.1.2 in “GSM RCC.07-Rich Communication Suite 5.1”):

-   -   +g.3gpp.iari-ref=“urn%3Aurn-7%3A3gpp-application.ims.iari.gsma-is”

A generic capability exchange mechanism would categorize this servicecapability as “public”. The communication network 400, in particular AS405, is configured to understand that this capability can bedistributed/notified to all user devices that have subscribed.

If a service capability or capability tag can be defined as beingcategorized as “private” then the communication network 400, or AS 405,can be configured to interpret such service capabilities as “private”and can be configured to only distribute these so-categorised servicecapabilities to authorised user devices, clients, applications andservices that have subscribed. This can be either achieved by defining aservice capability to always be categorised as “private” or by markingany service capability with a “private” marking or data that can beparsed by the AS 405 to determine whether the service capability iscategorised as “private” or “public”. That is absence of a “privacy”marking indicates the service capability is categorised as “public”, andpresence of a “privacy” marking indicates the service capability is tobe categorised as “private”.

For example, the above-mentioned service capability for the Image ShareIARI may be configured to include a “privacy” marking as follows:

-   -   +g.3gpp.iari-ref=“urn%3Aurn-7%3A3gpp-application.ims.iari.gsma-is”        Private

The “privacy” marking comprises the term “Private” and it is to beappreciated by the person skilled in the art that the “privacy” markingmay comprise any suitable data so long as the service capability isparsed and interpreted by the AS 405 as being categorised as “private”.When the communication network 400, or the AS 405, receives the aboveservice capability it parses the service capability and categorises itas “private” and notifies the appropriate user devices, clients,applications, and/or services accordingly.

This means that the primary service capability may either be defined toalways be categorised as “private” or the service capability definitionis extended to include data representative of a “privacy” marking thatindicates whether the service capability is to be categorised as“private”, or in the absence of the “privacy” marking it is categorisedas “public”.

In step 415, in this example, the primary service capability is furtherdefined to include data representative of a “privacy” marking that maybe parsed by the AS 405, where the presence of the “privacy” markingindicates the primary service capability is to be treated as “private”or only notified to authorised or trusted user devices, clients,applications, or services. The primary capability or primary capabilitytag with privacy marking is published or sent to the communicationnetwork 400 and received by the AS 405, which stores or updates thememory or database associated with the published capabilities of theuser devices 402 a-402 c.

The communication network 400 and AS 405 understands that the primarycapability tag with “privacy” marking needs to be treated as private asopposed to other service capabilities without the “privacy” marking. TheAS 405 will determine those authorised user devices that are categorisedas trusted or private, i.e. the group of user devices 402 a-402 c underthe control of the user 403 requesting the primary capability.

In steps 416 and 417, the AS 405 transmits capability notifications ornotifications on the capability changes i.e. the first user device 402 abeing set with the primary service capability to those user devices inthe group of user devices 402 a-402 c or trusted applications that havepreviously subscribed to receive changes in service capabilities for thefirst user device 402 a. The AS 405 may also be configured to check andupdate its database associated with the capabilities of the group ofuser devices 402 a-402 c to take into account that the first user device402 a has been set as the primary service capability, e.g. other devicesthat were previously set to have the primary service capability may beupdated. For example, the AS 405 may check and update the capabilitiesassociated with each user device stored in the AS 405 memory and/ordatabase. Alternatively or additionally, the AS 405 may simply notifythe other user devices of the capability changes and wait for thosedevices to update and publish their capabilities. In step 416 the thirduser device 402 c is notified of the capability change of the first userdevice 402 a, which has been set to include the primary servicecapability. In step 417, the second user device 402 b is notified of thecapability change of the first user device 402 a, which has been set toinclude the primary service capability.

In step 418, for those user devices that previously were set to have theprimary service capability, these user devices perform a re-registrationwith the communication network 400 to remove the relevant services (e.g.ICSIs) associated with the group of user devices 402 a-402 c. Instead ofrequiring the AS 405 to check and update the capabilities of the groupof user devices 402 a-402 c, these user devices may instead remove theprimary capability from their list of capabilities and publish thecapability changes to cause the AS 405 to update its memory/databaseassociated with the capabilities of the group of user devices 402 a-402c. In this example, the second user device 402 b was previously set tohave the primary service capability, and so the second user device 402 bsends a re-register to the communication network 400 (e.g. the IMS core401) to remove the relevant ICSIs such that all applications andservices associated with the group of user device 402 a-402 c and theuser 403 in the communication network are now aware that they should notsend incoming request, calls or session/service requests to the seconduser device 402 b. As the first user device 402 a has now been set tohave the primary service capability, in step 419, the first user device402 a performs a re-registration with the communication network 400 toadd the relevant services (e.g. ICSIs) associated with the group of userdevices 402 a-402 c. That is, the first user device 402 a sends are-register to the communication network 400 adding the relevantservices such that the incoming service requests, session requests,calls, etc., are sent to the first user device 402 a. For example, instep 420, incoming requests from the originating side or remote side 404are only sent to the primary user device (now the first user device 402a) via the IMS Core/MMTel AS 401.

FIG. 4c a signalling diagram illustrating another example processaccording to the invention for routing service/session requests,incoming requests or calls to user devices based on capability exchangemechanisms. The communication network 400 has been described withrespect to FIG. 4 b.

Initially, in steps 410-413 are the same as those described withreference to FIG. 4b for setting the primary user device such that alluser devices 402 a-402 c are aware of the identities of the other userdevices 402 a-402 c. In this example, it is assumed that the first userdevice 402 a is the current primary user device. In step 421, the user403 uses the first user device 402 a to set another user device of thegroup of user devices 402 a-402 c as the primary user device. That is,the first user device 402 a delegates the primary capability to anotheruser device in the group of user devices 402 a-402 c. In this case, theuser 403 uses the first user device 402 a to select the second userdevice 402 b to be the primary user device.

In step 422, the first user device 402 a sends or publishes the primarycapability associated with the second user device 402 b to the AS 405.The primary capability includes data representative of the primaryservice capability, a “privacy” marking or tag, and the identity of thesecond user device 402 b. The AS 405 may also be configured to check andupdate its database associated with the capabilities of the group ofuser devices 402 a-402 c to take into account that the first user device402 a has set the second user device 402 b to have the primary servicecapability. The AS 405 notifies all other user devices 402 b and 402 c,apart from the first user device 402 a, of the capability change of thesecond user device 402 b, which is to be set to have the primary servicecapability. In step 423, the AS 405 sends a capability notification tothe third user device 402 c indicating that the second user device 402 anow has the primary service capability. As the third user device 402 cis not the current primary user device, the third user device 402 c isconfigured to not perform any action in response to the notification. Instep 424, the AS 405 sends a capability notification to the second userdevice 402 b indicating the capability change associated with the seconduser device 402 b, which has been set by the first user device 402 a tohave the primary capability and so become the primary user device.

In step 425, as the first user device 402 a was previously set to havethe primary service capability, the first user device 402 a performs are-registration with the communication network 400 to remove therelevant services (e.g. ICSIs) associated with the group of user devices402 a-402 c it has previously registered for. The first user device 402a may also update its capabilities to remove the primary capability fromits capabilities, which may be published in the usual manner associatedwith capability exchange to update the AS 405. In step 426, the seconduser device 402 b includes the primary capability as part of its servicecapabilities, and performs a registration or re-registration with thecommunication network 400 to add the relevant services (e.g. ICSIs)associated with the group of user devices 402 a-402 c. That is, thesecond user device 402 b sends a re-register to the communicationnetwork 400 adding the relevant services such that the incoming servicerequests, session requests, calls, etc., are sent to the second userdevice 402 b. For example, in step 427, incoming requests from theoriginating side or remote side 404 are only sent to the primary userdevice (now the second user device 402 b) via the IMS Core/MMTel AS 401.

FIGS. 5a and 5b are schematic diagrams illustrating a further exampleprocess according to the invention for further routing of incomingservice/session requests and/or calls, etc. to user devices 502 a-502 cin a communications network 500. In this example, the communicationsnetwork 500 includes an IMS comprising an MMTel/IMS Core 501 and anoriginating side or remote side 504 of the communications network 500. Auser 503 may have a group of devices 502 a-502 c that are associatedwith an IMS subscription (i.e. a multi-service subscription).

It is assumed that each user device in the group of user devices 502a-502 c is registered with the communication network 500 as previouslydescribed with reference to FIGS. 3a-4c . It is also assumed that one ofthe user devices 502 a-502 c has been selected as the primary userdevice for the group of user devices 502 a-502 c according to inventionas previously described with reference to FIGS. 3a -4 c. In this casethe first user device 502 a has been designated as the primary userdevice and has been registered with the communications network 500 inrespect of all the relevant services associated with the group of userdevices 502 a-502 c and the IMS subscription or multi-servicesubscription of user 503. The primary user device is also aware or hasstored the list of all the service capabilities and the identities ofthe other devices in the group of devices 502 a-502 c.

The first user device 502 a is configured to include a selection androuting mechanism 507 allowing the user 503 to decide on which of thegroup of user devices 502 a-502 c that the user 503 may respond oranswer an incoming session/service request or call. The first userdevice 502 a includes menu or application allowing the user 503 toselect one of the user devices 502 a-502 c from a list or set of userdevices that match the capabilities of the incoming service request. Inthis example, the user 503 has designated the first user device 502 a asthe primary user device, the user 503 may designate any other userdevice in the group of user devices 502 a-502 c as the primary userdevice. It is also assumed that the user 503 is reachable at the primaryuser device, which is the first user device 502 a. The remaining userdevices 502 b and 502 c are considered to be secondary.

In operation, the first user device 502 a will receive all incomingrequests or calls from other user devices in, for example, theoriginating side 504 of communications network 500. This may consist ofringing only the primary user device, the first user device 502 a, wherethe selection mechanism 507 displays the identity of all user devicesmatching the requested service capabilities associated with the incomingservice request. The user 503 selects a suitable user device andtransfers or routes the incoming service request to the selected userdevice via the IMS Core/MMTel 501.

FIGS. 5a and 5b illustrate the selection and routing mechanism 507 foran incoming video call originating from the originating side 504 of thecommunication network 500.

In step 506 a, another user device in the originating side 504 of thecommunication network 500 transmits a video call request towards theuser 503. The IMS Core/MMTel 501 receives the incoming video call andsince the first user device 502 a has been set as the primary userdevice, and the network 500 is aware that all incomingrequests/sessions, calls etc. associated with the relevant services foruser 503 should be routed to the first user device 502 a. In step 506 a,the IMS Core/MMTel 501 sends the incoming video call to the first userdevice 502 a, thus the user 503 gets the video call on the primary userdevice. On receiving the incoming video call, the selection and routingmechanism 507 indicates that the incoming request is a video call byshowing, by way of example, a camera. The selection and routingmechanism 507 also displays on the display of the first user device 502a any other user device in the group of user devices 502 a-502 c thatare capable of handling the call. In this case, as it is a video call,the selection and routing mechanism 507 displays both the second andthird user devices 502 b and 502 c as these are determined to be able tohandle the call. The first user device 502 a is also able to handle thevideo call, so the user 503 is also provided with the option to answerthe video call on the first user device 502 a. By way of example only,the user 503 selects the third user device 502 c for handling theincoming video call. In step 508 a, the first user device 502 a thenredirects/routes the incoming video call via the IMS Core/MMTel 501 tothird user device 502 c. In routing the video call, the first userdevice 502 a includes the identity of the third user device 502 callowing the IMS Core/MMTel 501 to route the video call to the thirduser device 502 c. In step 508 b, the video call is then routed orredirected from the IMS Core/MMTel 501 to the third user device 502 c(e.g. the TV), where in step 509 the third user device 502 c processesthe call. In this example, the video call may be an MMTel service,however, it is to be appreciated by the person skilled in the art thatany incoming request associated with other services, such as presence,chat or any other RCS service etc. may be redirected/routed in thisfashion.

FIG. 5c illustrates a signalling flow diagram illustrating anotherexample process of the selection and routing mechanism according to theinvention. The communication network 500 as described with respect toFIGS. 5a and 5b is illustrated and further includes a capabilityexchange application service 505 or AS 505.

Initially, in step 510 each user device 502 a-502 c of the group of userdevices 502 a-502 c performs an IP CAN connection and IMS registrationto allow the user devices 502 a-502 c to access/communicate with therelevant services associated with IMS subscription of the user 503and/or other user devices over communication network 500. The IMS Coreand MMTel AS 501 registers each user device 502 a-502 c. In step 511each user device 502 a-502 c publishes its capability in terms ofsupported services that each device 502 a-502 c is capable of handlingto the AS 505, the AS 505 may then notify each user device 502 a-502 cof the capabilities of the other user devices in the group of userdevices 502 a-502 c. In this example, in step 512 a, the user 503 of thefirst user device 501 a sets, via the Ut interface, the first userdevice 502 a to be the primary user device in the MMTel AS 501. In step513, the first user device retrieves or subscribes to the AS 505 toretrieve the capabilities and device identities of the other devices 502a-502 c in the group of devices 502 a-502 c associated with the user 503and the IMS/multi-service subscription of the user 503. In this manner,the first user device 501 a is set as the primary user device and thecommunication network 500 is aware that all incoming service requestsshould be routed to the first user device 501 a.

Another user device (not shown) in the originating side 504 ofcommunications network 500 initiates a call (e.g. a video call or otherservice request) with user 503. In step 514 a, the IMS core/MMTel 501received the incoming call from the originating side 504 (remote side)of the communications network. In step 514 b, the IMS Core/MMTel 501,being aware that the first user device 502 a is the primary user device,routes the incoming call to the first user device 501 a.

In step 515, according to the selection and routing mechanism 507 on thefirst user device 501 a, the user 503 is alerted to the incoming calland selects from a list or a display of user devices in the group ofuser devices 502 a-502 c that are capable of handling the incoming calla suitable user device for taking the call. The selection and routingmechanism 507 uses the retrieved device capabilities of the group ofuser devices 502 a-502 c to display the suitable user devices for takingthe call. In this case, the first user device 502 a displays that thethird user device 502 c is capable of handling the call and the user 503selects the third user device 502 c. In step 516, the first user device502 a routes or redirects the incoming call to the third user device 502c via the IMS Core/MMTel 501 using the identity of the third user device502 c. In step 517, the IMS Core/MMTel 501 delivers the incoming call tothe third user device 502 c, which then beings to handle the incomingcall and communicate with the other user device in the originating side504 of the communication network 500.

FIG. 5d illustrates another signalling flow diagram illustrating afurther example process of the selection and routing mechanism accordingto the invention. The communication network 500 as described withrespect to FIGS. 5a to 5c is illustrated.

Steps 510 and 511 are similar to those described with reference to FIG.5c . In this example, in step 512 b, the user 503 of the first userdevice 501 a sets the first user device 501 a as the primary user deviceusing the capability exchange mechanisms and example processes asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 3a to 5b . In this way, the incomingrequests for all the relevant services associated with the group of userdevices 502 a-502 c will be routed to the first user device 502 a. Instep 513, the first user device may retrieves the capabilities anddevice identities of the other devices 502 a-502 c in the group ofdevices 502 a-502 c associated with the user 503 and theIMS/multi-service subscription of the user 503. In this manner, thefirst user device 501 a is set as the primary user device and thecommunication network 500 is aware that all incoming service requestsshould be routed to the first user device 501 a.

Another user device (not shown) in the originating side 504 ofcommunications network 500 initiates a call (e.g. a video call or otherservice request) with user 503. In step 514 c the incoming call isrouted via the IMS core/MMTel 501 to the first user device 502 a. Instep 515, according to the selection and routing mechanism 507 on thefirst user device 501 a, the user 503 is alerted to the incoming calland selects from a list or a display of user devices in the group ofuser devices 502 a-502 c that are capable of handling the incoming calla suitable user device for taking the call. The selection and routingmechanism 507 uses the retrieved device capabilities of the group ofuser devices 502 a-502 c to display the suitable user devices for takingthe call. In this case, the first user device 502 a displays that thethird user device 502 c is capable of handling the call and the user 503selects the third user device 502 c. In step 516, the first user device502 a routes or redirects the incoming call to the third user device 502c via the IMS Core/MMTel 501 using the identity of the third user device502 c. In step 517, the IMS Core/MMTel 501 delivers the incoming call tothe third user device 502 c, which then beings to handle the incomingcall and communicate with the other user device in the originating side504 of the communication network 500.

As previously described, the capability exchange mechanisms may use XMLwith the service capabilities and capability notifications being basedon XML. The capabilities may be defined using elements and attributesthat are indicated in XML using tags etc. The capability notificationsmay include data representative of the user device 502 a being theprimary user device for the group of devices 502 a-502 c, such data maybe defined of in the form of an XML capability primary tag indicatingwhether the user device 502 a is the primary user device. The XMLcapability primary tag may be configured to include a privacy indicationthat indicates the XML capability primary tag should only be shared withtrusted user devices, e.g. user devices in the group of devices 502a-502 c associated with a user subscription and/or trusted applications,services and other network nodes.

FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of an apparatus 600 (e.g. a userdevice) for use in a communication network such as an IP networkcomprising a plurality of user devices. The communications networkincludes an IMS and capability exchange application server, where agroup of user devices in the communication network are associated withan IMS user subscription. The apparatus 600 includes a processor 601,receiver 602, transmitter 603 and memory 604, the processor 601 beingcoupled to the receiver 602, the transmitter 603 and the memory 604. Thememory 604 may be configured to include or store service capabilities ofthe apparatus, and/or service capabilities of one or more user devicesin the group of user devices. The apparatus 600 may be communicativelycoupled via receiver 601 and transmitter 603 to the communicationsnetwork and also the capability exchange AS.

In operation, the processor 601 is configured to set a user device to bea primary user device of the group of user devices for receiving allincoming service requests from services associated with the group ofuser devices. The processor 601 and transmitter 603 are furtherconfigured to send a primary capability indication associated with theuser device to the capability exchange AS for use in notifying theprimary capability indication associated with the user device to otheruser devices in the group of user devices. The primary capabilityindication includes data representative of the user device being theprimary user device for the group of devices.

The processor 601 and transmitter 603 are further configured to registerwith the IMS that the user device is the primary user device for theservices associated with the group of user devices. The processor 601and receiver 602 are configured to receive a capabilities notificationfrom the capabilities exchange AS, the capabilities notificationincluding a primary capability indication associated with another userdevice of the group of user devices different to the user deviceassociated with the apparatus. If the user device is currently set asthe primary user device, then in response to the capabilitiesnotification, the processor 601 and transmitter 603 are furtherconfigured to register or re-register with the IMS to remove the userdevice as the primary user device for the services associated with thegroup of user devices.

Alternatively or additionally, the processor 601 and receiver 602 areconfigured to receive a capabilities notification from the capabilitiesexchange application server, where the capabilities notificationincludes a primary capability indication associated with the userdevice. If the user device is not currently set as the primary userdevice, then in response to the capabilities notification, the processor601 and transmitter 603 are further configured to register orre-register with the IMS that the user device is the primary user devicefor the services associated with the group of user devices.

The processor 601 may be further configured to only select the userdevice from the group of user devices to be the primary user device. Itis to be appreciated that the apparatus 600 may be implemented on one ormore user devices of the group of user devices.

The receiver 602 may be further configured to receive a capabilitiesexchange notification from the capability exchange AS, where thecapabilities exchange notification includes data representative of adevice identifier and one or more service capabilities associated withone or more user devices in the group of user devices. The processor 601and memory 604 are configured to store the device identifiers and theone or more service capabilities, and to identify the servicesassociated with the group of user devices based on one or more servicecapabilities. The processor 601 is further configured to identify theservices associated with the group of user devices based on IMScommunication service identifiers (ICSIs) for the group of user devices.

The processor 601 and receiver 602 may be further configured to receivea service request or incoming call associated with one of the group ofuser devices. For example, the service request or incoming call mayoriginate from another user device in the communication network. Theprocessor 601 is further configured to determine one or more userdevice(s) from the group of user devices capable of handling thereceived service request based on the stored service capabilitiesassociated with the group of user devices. The processor 601 is furtherconfigured to display a selection of the determined user devices capableof handling the service request, and allow a user select a user devicefrom the determined user device(s) for handling the service request orincoming call. The processor 601 and transmitter 603 are furtherconfigured to redirecting or route the received service request via thecommunication network to the selected user device using the identity ofthe selected user device.

The data representative of the user device being the primary user devicefor the group of devices may be based on an XML capability primary tagindicating whether the user device is the primary user device. Inaddition, the XML capability primary tag may further include a privacyindication that indicates the XML capability primary tag can only beshared with user devices in the group of devices and/or trustedapplications.

FIG. 7 is a schematic illustration of an application server 700 for usein a communications network that includes an IMS and a group of userdevices associated with an IMS user subscription or a multi-servicesubscription. The application server 700 includes the functionality of acapabilities exchange application server, or capabilities exchangemechanism as described herein. The application server includes aprocessor 701, a receiver 702, a transmitter 703, and a memory 704, theprocessor 701 being coupled to the receiver 702, the transmitter 703,and the memory 704.

In operation, the processor 701 and receiver 702 are configured toreceive a primary capability indication associated with a user device.The primary capability indication includes data representative of theuser device being set as the primary user device for the group ofdevices and for receiving all incoming service requests from servicesassociated with the group of user devices. The memory 704 is configuredto store the primary capability indication associated with the userdevice. For example, the memory or storage medium may be a databaseassociated with storing capabilities for each of the user devices in thegroup of user devices, which the AS may use to retrieve and notify userdevices of any capability changes etc. accordingly. For example, the AS405 may check and update the capabilities associated with each userdevice stored in the AS 405 memory and/or database when a capabilitychange associated with a user device occurs. Alternatively oradditionally, the AS may simply notify the user devices of anycapability changes they have subscribed to and wait for those devices toupdate and publish their capabilities before updating the database. Theprocessor 701 and transmitter 703 are configured to notify the primarycapability indication associated with the user device to user devices inthe group of user devices.

If the user device that transmitted the primary capability indication tothe AS 700 is set as the primary user device, the processor 701 andtransmitter 703 are further configured to notify the primary capabilityindication associated with the user device only to other user devices ofthe group of user devices when the primary capability indicationassociated with the user device is received from the user device. Shouldanother user device of the group of user devices have transmitted theprimary capability indication associated with the user device to the AS700, then the processor 701 and transmitter 703 are further configuredto also notify the primary capability indication associated with theuser device to the user device when the primary capability indicationassociated with the user device.

The data representative of the user device being the primary user devicefor the group of devices may be based on an XML capability primary tagindicating whether the user device is the primary user device. Inaddition, the XML capability primary tag may further include a privacyindication that indicates the XML capability primary tag can only beshared with user devices in the group of devices and/or trustedapplications.

The user devices, application servers, apparatus and computing systemsas described herein each may further perform the methods and processesas described herein. The processors of such devices, servers, apparatus,or systems are configured to execute computer program instructions basedon the methods and processes described herein, such instructions beingcontained in a computer-readable medium or non-transitory computerreadable medium, such as memory. The computer program instructions maybe read into memory from another computer-readable medium or fromanother device via a communication interface. The instructions containedin memory cause the processor of a user device, application server,apparatus or other such computer system to perform processes or methodsas described herein. Alternatively or in addition to, hardwiredcircuitry may be used in place of or in combination with the computerprogram instructions to implement processes and methods consistent withthe present invention. Examples of hardware circuitry may include, butare not limited to, semiconductor chips, integrated circuits, fieldprogrammable gate arrays, application-specific integrated circuits,electronically programmable integrated circuits and the like. Thus, thepresent invention is not limited to any specific combination of hardwarecircuitry and/or software.

In addition, there is provided a computer program, comprising computerreadable code means which, when run from a computer readable medium inthe form of a memory in a processor in an application server, causes theapplication server to perform the associated steps of the methods orprocesses as described. Additionally or alternatively, there is provideda computer program product comprising a computer readable medium and acomputer program as described, where the computer program is stored onthe computer readable medium. Further, there is provided a computerprogram, comprising computer readable code means which, when run from acomputer readable medium in the form of a memory in a processor in anapparatus, user device or network entity, causes the apparatus, usedevice or network entity to perform the associated steps of the methodsor processes as described. As an option, there is provided a computerprogram product comprising a computer readable medium and a computerprogram as described, where the computer program is stored on thecomputer readable medium.

Although the invention has been described in terms of example solutionsor preferred embodiments as set forth above, it should be understoodthat these examples or embodiments are illustrative only and that theclaims are not limited to only those examples or embodiments. Thoseskilled in the art will be able to make modifications and alternativesin view of the disclosure which are contemplated as falling within thescope of the appended claims. Each of the features, steps, servers orapparatus disclosed or illustrated in the present specification may beincorporated into the invention, whether alone or in any appropriatecombination with any other feature, step, or apparatus, user device,application server, node as disclosed or illustrated herein.

1. A method of routing service requests to user devices in acommunications network comprising an IP multimedia subsystem, IMS, and acapability exchange application server, wherein a group of user devicesare associated with an IMS user subscription, the method comprising thesteps of: setting a user device to be a primary user device of the groupof user devices for receiving all incoming service requests fromservices associated with the group of user devices; and sending aprimary capability indication associated with the user device to acapability exchange application server for use in notifying the primarycapability indication associated with the user device to other userdevices in the group of user devices, wherein the primary capabilityindication includes data representative of the user device being theprimary user device for the group of devices.
 2. The method as claimedin claim 1, further comprising registering with the IMS that the userdevice is the primary user device for the services associated with thegroup of user devices.
 3. The method as claimed in claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving a capabilities notification from the capabilitiesexchange application server, the capabilities notification comprising aprimary capability indication associated with another user device of thegroup of user devices different to the user device; and if the userdevice is currently set as the primary user device, then in response tothe capabilities notification, re-registering with the IMS to remove theuser device as the primary user device for the services associated withthe group of user devices.
 4. The method as claimed in claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving a capabilities notification from the capabilitiesexchange application server, the capabilities notification comprising aprimary capability indication associated with the user device; and ifthe user device is not currently set as the primary user device, then inresponse to the capabilities notification, registering with the IMS thatthe user device is the primary user device for the services associatedwith the group of user devices.
 5. The method as claimed in claim 1,wherein setting the user device to be a primary user device furthercomprises selecting the user device from the group of user devices to bethe primary user device.
 6. The method as claimed in claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving a capabilities exchange notification from thecapability exchange application server, the capabilities exchangenotification including data representative of a device identifier andone or more service capabilities associated with one or more devices inthe group of devices; storing the device identifiers and the one or moreservice capabilities; and identifying the services associated with thegroup of user devices based on one or more service capabilities.
 7. Themethod as claimed in claim 1, further comprising identifying theservices associated with the group of user devices based on IMScommunication service identifiers, ICSIs, for the group of user devices.8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the user device is one ofthe devices in the group of user devices.
 9. The method as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the method is performed by the user device.
 10. Themethod as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: receiving a servicerequest associated with one of the group of user devices; determiningone or more user device(s) from the group of user devices capable ofhandling the received service request; selecting a user device from thedetermined user device(s) for handling the call; and redirecting thereceived service request to the selected user device.
 11. The method asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the data representative of the user devicebeing the primary user device for the group of devices comprises a XMLcapability primary tag indicating whether the user device is the primaryuser device.
 12. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the XMLcapability primary tag further includes a privacy indication thatindicates the XML capability primary tag can only be shared with userdevices in the group of devices and/or trusted applications. 13.-20.(canceled)
 21. An apparatus for use in routing service requests to userdevices in a communications network comprising an IP multimediasubsystem, IMS, and an application server, wherein a group of userdevices are associated with an IMS user subscription and the applicationserver includes the functionality of a capabilities exchange applicationserver, the apparatus comprising: a processor, a receiver, atransmitter, and a memory, the processor being coupled to the receiver,the transmitter, and the memory, wherein: the processor is configured toset a user device to be a primary user device of the group of userdevices for receiving all incoming service requests from servicesassociated with the group of user devices; and the transmitter isconfigured to send a primary capability indication associated with theuser device to the application server for use in notifying the primarycapability indication associated with the user device to other userdevices in the group of user devices, wherein the primary capabilityindication includes data representative of the user device being theprimary user device for the group of devices.
 22. The apparatus asclaimed in claim 21, wherein the processor and transmitter are furtherconfigured to register with the IMS that the user device is the primaryuser device for the services associated with the group of user devices.23. The apparatus as claimed in claim 21, wherein: the processor andreceiver are configured to receive a capabilities notification from theapplication server, the capabilities notification comprising a primarycapability indication associated with another user device of the groupof user devices different to the user device; and if the user device iscurrently set as the primary user device, then in response to thecapabilities notification, the processor and transmitter are furtherconfigured to re-register with the IMS to remove the user device as theprimary user device for the services associated with the group of userdevices.
 24. The apparatus as claimed in claim 21, wherein: theprocessor and receiver are configured to receive a capabilitiesnotification from the capabilities exchange application server, thecapabilities notification comprising a primary capability indicationassociated with the user device; and if the user device is not currentlyset as the primary user device, then in response to the capabilitiesnotification, the processor and transmitter are further configured toregister with the IMS that the user device is the primary user devicefor the services associated with the group of user devices.
 25. Theapparatus as claimed in claim 21, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to only select the user device from the group of user devicesto be the primary user device.
 26. The apparatus as claimed in claim 21,wherein the apparatus is implemented in at least one user device of thegroup of user devices. 27.-29. (canceled)
 30. A computer program productcomprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storingcode which, when run from a computer readable memory in a processor inan apparatus, causes the apparatus to perform the method of claim 1.31.-33. (canceled)